Photos by RT Tolentino and Beth Oualline, & game info from Shaun Kelley

Football:

Hats off to defensive players and coaches from both Northview and Bonita.

The Vikings and Bearcats held their offensive counterparts to a combined 51 points under their weekly scoring output.

And where it counts the most, the scoreboard, Northview picked up a 14-13 road victory, and improved to 6-1.

And in the process, NHS handed BHS its first loss of 2023.

Northview got on the board first, as Keanu Tauvao scored on a 6-yard TD run in the second quarter to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

Bonita’s first score was set up by a blocked punt and a 20-yard return by Jacob Maddox to the Northview 20-yard line.

Daniel Mielke tossed a 20-yard TD pass to Noah Mikhail on the next play to cut Northview’s lead to 7-6 with 6:21 left in the first half.

Bonita elected to go for a 2-point conversion and the pass failed.

The Bearcats took a 13-7 lead on its opening drive of the third quarter.

Noah Mikhail capped a 74-yard march with a 1-yard TD run.

Northview took advantage of a bad snap from center in punt formation, giving the Vikings a first-and-10 on the Bonita 12-yard line with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

A pass interference penalty gave Northview a third-and-1 from the 3.

Angel Barraza followed with a 3-yard TD run for a 14-13 lead with 6:48 left.

On their next possession, Montenegro caught a 40-yard pass from Daniel Mielke to the Northview 25.

But Manny Franco’s 39-yard field goal attempt with 3:58 to play was wide.

Northview coach Marcel Perez displayed some massive stones by going for it on fourth-and-three from their own 28-yard line.

The Vikings got the three yards needed, and were able to run the clock down to just over a minute left before punting the ball back to Bonita.

Mielke, on fourth-and-10 from his 40, completed a 24-yard pass to Montenegro to the Northview 36 with just over 40 seconds left.

But an offensive pass interference penalty on an incomplete pass in the end zone put the ball back to midfield.

Bonita’s last chance ended when Mielke completed a 19-yard pass to Montenegro to the 31 with about 14 seconds to play.

The Bearcats, however, were unable to get their field goal unit on the field in time and the clock ran out.

Northview had a 189-42 advantage in the ground game, and Bonita threw for 136 yards to the Vikings’ 48 yards through the air.

On third-down conversion attempts, the NHS defense held the Bearcats to 4-of-15, and the BHS defense only surrendered a first down on four of the Vikings 16 attempts.

Angel Barraza had a game-high 77 yards rushing on 17 attempts, and that includes the 3-yard TD that ended up being the difference.

Tauvao had 67 yards on 18 carries and one score.

Montenegro led BHS with 29 yards on six carries.

Mielke went 11-of-26 for 136 yards, including one TD and he was picked once in the first half.

Erik Jimenez completed 4-of-8 for 48 yards and had neither a TD or interception.

Northview’s Donovan Perez caught two passes for 39 yards.

Montenegro totaled seven receptions for 84 yards.

Mikhail caught three passes for 55 yards, and had one rushing and one receiving TD.

Up next: Northview heads into it bye week, and Bonita hosts Sierra Vista (1-5) next Friday in its last nonleague game of the season.

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Quotable:

Northview coach, Marcel Perez: “It was one of those nights where our defense really stepped up. Our o-line and d-line took care of business tonight and I couldn’t be more proud. This was a huge win for our program and it was against a great program that is incredibly well coached. These are the games we want to prepare us for league and the playoffs. These type of games are what we practive and coach for. It was a great atmosphere and nobody deserved to lose this game.”

Bonita co-head coach, Bo Beatty: “I called that 2-point play, so put the loss on me. Without that, we’re probably still playing. But this is the kind of game that high school football is all about. Two great programs who have have tremendous respect for the other fought it out till the end and both programs will benefit going forward. We didn’t do everything well, and we’ll work on that as we prepare for next week and going forward. I don’t think Coach (Marcel) Perez gets as much credit as he deserves in running that progream. He and his staff/players put their hearts on the line and so did we.”

Box Score:
N: 0-7-0-7-(14)
B: 0-6-7-0-(13)

Scoring:
N: Keanu Tauvao 2 run (Daniel Garcia kick)
B: Noah Mikhail 20 pass from Daniel Mielke (pass failed)
B: Noah Mikhail 1 run (Manny Franco kick)
N: Angel Barraza 3 run (Daniel Garcia kick)

Records: Northview (6-1); Bonita (5-1)